Ringlet curler



M. H. PARKER Sept 2, 1969 RINGLET CURLER Filed Dec. 6, 1965 FIG 2 INVENTOR.

MILDRED H. PARKER ATTORNEY 3,464,426 RINGLET CURLER Mildred H. Parker, 971 Spencer St, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822 Filed Dec. 6, 1965, Ser. No. 511,765 Int. Cl. A45d 24/10, 2/00 U.S. Cl. 132-123 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ringlet curler wherein a lock of hair, starting with hair nearest the scalp, is wound around a slotted perforated curler tube and between the teeth of a radially .protracting comb. A piece of cloth is wrapped around the end portion of the curler tube and over the lock of hair to hold the loose end portion of the lock of hair to the curler. The ringlet curler may be used in end to end arrangement with other ringlet curlers if it is necessary to use more than one curler on a lock of hair because of its length.

The present invention relates to a hair curler for the use of women and children who have long hair and who desire home permanents for ringlets (long curls) and/ or waves. It consists of a perforated curler tube, a comb, and a piece of cloth. The base of the comb fits in a resilient loop located within the perforated curler tube while a major portion of its teeth project through a longitudinal slot in the perforated curler tube. A lock of hair is wound around the perforated curler tube and between the teeth of the protracted comb, starting with hair near est the scalp. The teeth of the comb prevent the hair from spinning and unraveling. When all of the lock of hair is wound, a piece of cloth is wrapped around the end portion of the tube and over the hair to hold the loose end portion of the lock of hair to the tube. Should it be necessary to use more than one curler on a lock of hair because of its length, additional curlers may be used by placing them end to end and a piece of cloth may be wrapped around the end portion of the last tube and over the end portion of the lock of hair. A piece of cloth may also be used at the beginning of the lock of hair if a tighter curl is desired.

The lock of hair is unwound by pulling the comb from the loop, then pushing the comb at an angle away from the loop and towards the inner surface of the tube until the comb is entirely within the tube, and finally by pulling the tube and comb free from the lock of hair. The piece of cloth will fall off the wound lock of hair when the comb is entirely within the tube.

While it is old in the hair curling art to have a retractable comb with a hair curler, I have devised a novel and inventive way of projecting and retracting a comb so that it will be simple and inexpensive to manufacture and easy to use. In addition, my curler is designed for use with long hair, to be initially applied near the root ends of a lock of hair instead of at the tip ends, and to be used end to end on a long look of hair.

An object of this invention is to provide a hair curler for long hair which is inexpensive and easy to use.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hair curler which is initially applied near the roots of a lock of hair to produce a long spiral curl.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a hair curler with a retractable comb that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and simple to use.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a hair curler with a retractable comb that can be easily removed from a curl after the curl has set without disturbing it.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hair nited States Fatfim ice curler that can be used in end-to-end relationship with other like curlers to curl a long lock of hair.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a hair curler with a retractable comb for making ringlets.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a hair curler which is simple in structure, inexpensive to manufacture, and easy to use.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detained description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the ringlet curler in its operative position.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the preferred embodiment of the ringlet curler in its inoperative position.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE 3 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, with the flange and loop not shown.

FIGURE 5 is a side view of the preferred embodiment of the ringlet curler at the instance that the comb is pulled free from the loop.

FIGURE 6 is a front view of a comb which is a part of the ringlet curler.

FIGURE 7 is a front view of the cloth which is a part of the ringlet curler.

FIGURE 8 is a side view of a modification of the tube of my ringlet curler.

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of the tube which is a part of the ringlet curler.

FIGURE 10 is a view showing the ringlet curler in use on a womans lock of hair.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawing, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also. it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference numerals refer to like and corresponding parts throughout the several views, the preferred embodiment of the invention disclosed in FIGURES 1 to 7, FIGURES 9, and 10 consist of a preforated curler tube T, a comb C, and a piece of cloth or fabric F.

The tube T as shown in FIGURE 9 includes a cylindrical surface 1 with a longitudinal slot 2, a flange 3 which extends into the cylindrical surface 1 from one end of slot 2, a resilient loop 4 at the end of flange 3, and perforations 5.

The cylindrical surface 1 may be made of plastic, hard rubber, nylon, a noncorrosive metal, or any other light weight, slightly flexible material. Its inside diameter should be slightly greater than the width of comb C and its length should be equal or slightly greater than the length of comb C. The slot 2 should have a width equal to or slightly greater than the thickness of comb C to facilitate the passage of comb C through it.

The loop 4 is S-shaped in cross section. The back portion of the S is in close proximity to the side of flange 3 or if it is deemed desirable may touch the side of flange 3. The inside diameter of the bottom portion of the S is equal to or slightly less than the thickness of comb C. The top of the S should be at a greater distance from the cylindrical surface 1 than the width of the base of comb C so that when comb C is pulled free of loop 4 there will be sufficient space tomanipulate comb C back into cylindrical surface 1 and away from loop 4. For example, if

of comb C is allowed for insertion within cylindrical surface 1 and the width of the base of comb C is and its thickness is the loop should be A in depth so that the distance from the top of the S to the cylindrical surface 1 will be which is greater than the width of the base of comb C.

FIGURE 8 shows an alternative cross section for loop 4. The loop is 9-shaped in cross section.

Perforations serve to lighten the weight of cylindrical surface 1 as well as to hold liquids (solution or water) more evenly and to permit air circulation to that portion of the hair which has been wrapped thereabout.

Comb C as shown in FIGURE 6 includes a base 6 with teeth 7. The base is fiat. The teeth are evenly spaced in parallel relationship with one another and taper down at their ends. The space between the teeth should be uniform in a single piece but spacing could be anywhere from to However, more than one spacing design may be utilized if desired. Comb C may be made of any suitable material. Its length is equal to or slightly less than the length of the tube with which it is to be used.

When comb C is placed within loop 4 as shown in FIGURE 1, it is free to move in a radial or longitudinal direction if force is applied to overcome the effects of the tight engagement of the sides of base 6 with the inside surfaces of loop 4. The teeth of comb C prevents hair from spinning and unraveling.

Cloth or fabric F as shown in FIGURE 7 is made out of any loose woven fabric or netting. Its length should be about one and one-half times the circumference of the cylindrical surface 1 and should have a width of about 1%". The user of my curler may make them by simply cutting to size any suitable loose woven fabric or netting.

Cloth or fabric F is used at the end portion of tube T to keep the loose end portion of a wound lock of hair from unwinding (see FIGURE 10). It is wrapped around the end portion of tube T and over the end portion of a lock of hair. Should it be necessary to use more than one of my curlers on a long lock of hair, it is used on the last tube only. If it is desired to make a tighter curl, another piece of cloth or fabric F may be used at the beginning of the curl as well.

My curler may be utilized in the following manner: (1) Comb C is placed in its projected position by placing base 6 within loop 4 so that a major portion of teeth 7 will project through slot 2 (see FIGURE 1). (2) Tube T with projected comb C are placed near the lock of hair to be curled. (3) The lock of hair is evenly wound around tube T and between teeth 7 starting with the hair nearest the scalp until the entire lock of hair is wound around tube T and between teeth 7 or as much as the curler can handle. The teeth of comb C will prevent the hair from spinning and unraveling. (4) A piece of cloth F is wrapped around the end portion of tube T and over the hair, using teeth 7 to engage the cloth, to hold the loose end of the lock of hair to tube T. Should it be necessary to use more than one curler for a lock of hair because of its length, additional curlers may be utilized as described in steps l) to (3) above in end to end relationship with one another. Step (4) is used only on the last tube. Approximately thirteen curlers would be needed for an average head if one curler is used for each lock of hair. Home permanent solution or water may be added to the hair either before or after the hair is wound on my curlers.

When the curls have dried or set, my curlers are removed in the following manner: (1) Comb C is pulled free from loop 4 (see FIGURE 5) (2) Comb C is pushed at an angle away from loop 4 and towards the inner surface of tube T until comb C is entirely within tube T (see FIGURE 3). The top portion of loop 4- serves as a guide to comb C. (3) Tube T and retracted comb C are pulled free from the lock of hair. The cloth F may be picked up before or after tube T and retracted comb C are pulled free from the lock of hair as there is nothing to hold cloth F to tube T once teeth 7 are retracted within tube T.

Although but a single embodiment of the invention has been disclosed and described herein, it is obvious that many changes may be made in the size, shape, arrangement, and detail of the various elements of the invention without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A hair curler comprising a curler tube with 21 iongitudinal slot, a comb mounted in said tube, means to radially project the teeth of said comb outwardly through the slot, said means including a flange which extends into the tube from one end of the slot and an S-shaped loop at the end of the flange, the back portion of the S is in close proximity to the side of the flange and the inside diameter of the bottom portion of the S is equal to the thickness of the base of the comb, and a piece of cloth wrapped around the end portion of the tube and engaging the teeth of said comb, said cloth being adapted to hold the loose end of a lock of hair to the tube.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,526,577 10/1950 Renstrom et al. 132-123 2,966,158 12/1960 Brothers 132-123 F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner GREGORY E. MCNEILL, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

